Week 41 – To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Released: 12/25/1962
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Brock Peters, Estelle Evans, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox Paxton, James Anderson, Alice Ghostley, Robert Duvall
• Director: Robert Mulligan
• IMDB Page

It’s time for another week of 52 Films, 52 Portraits! This week’s film was chosen by one of my bestest friends, Blair. Blair and I met the summer before 8th grade, and have been friends ever since. Blair works as an engineer in Birmingham, AL, and lives in the greater metro area with her boyfriend, Brian. Blair and Brian also go on annual adventures with Joe and I.

Me, Blair and Ashley doing the signature selfie pose that Blair and I are known for on a trip to our High School last year.

As many of the participants of this blog have so far, Blair told me that she would not consider herself to be the biggest fan ever of film. She said that if she were to sit down and invest time in watching something, she is much more likely to choose to binge a television show. She said that she is almost always far more interested in the beginning and middle of a story than the end. For her, the most interesting aspects of a story are the ones that show the characters’ journeys, more than where they actually end up. For this reason, it makes a lot of sense that she would be more interested in televisions shows than films in general. With shows, you can get years and years of ‘journey’ before the end comes along, and even then the ending can be much less resolute than is often the case in films.

Blair also said that she generally prefers books when she is choosing something to pass the time, because they can transport her anywhere at any time. But she also loves photography, and loves that film can use similar elements and include music and tone to create a unique story-telling experience.

Blair said that some of her earliest memories related to film take place in a small movie theater in Prattville, AL. The theater had two screens, which may have been separated by a thick curtain or some other not-totally-effective material. She said that you could always hear what was going on in whatever film was playing next door. She also told me that it was often the case that one of the screens would play a film aimed at adults, and the other would play one for children. She said that she remembers seeing 101 Dalmatians there (although she admits that this may be a false memory, as that film would have been multiple decades old by the time she would have been going to the theater).

More often, however, Blair said that she and her family would go rent movies from Movie Gallery, which even had a plastic slide in the kid’s movie section (I definitely don’t think MY Movie Gallery had this. Kid me is pretty upset right now. Adult me is totally cool with not having a bacterial cesspool marring my childhood film rental experience). More often then not, she would pick either Fern Gully or The Land Before Time as her choice to rent. Other films that she mentioned loving as a child include Free Willy (which she said she watched on countless sleepovers), Titanic (which she saw in 3rd grade for a friend’s Birthday), and Disney movies including The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and The Lion King. She said she has been watching these classics again recently with her nephews, and she’s pretty sure that she and her sister enjoy this far more than her nephews actually do. She also said that It’s A Wonderful Life was a Christmas staple in her family, and they’d watch it every year with fondue. Finally, she said that she can remember her sister introducing her to The Princess Bride at an early age, and let her watch it with her and her friends (which made it even cooler).

After such a diverse childhood of film experiences, it’s only natural that Blair is now drawn to different genres as an adult as well. She said that her two favorite types of movies now are generally dramas and romantic comedies. She said that she is tired, however, of the big budget superhero films that are so popular now. She prefers films about life and experiences that could actually happen in the real world. She admits that romantic comedies are often fairly unrealistic, but at least the generally “obey the laws of physics.” She said that she enjoys subscribing to Netflix’s DVD service, and gets at least a couple of titles a month. Her queue includes these genres, but also has documentaries, suspense films, musicals, foreign fare, etc.

When I asked her whether there were any people in the film industry that really drew her to films, Blair said that she really loves Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She told me that she had a big crush on him when he was in 3rd Rock from the Sun and her love for him has only continued since then. She listed Inception, Lookout, Looper, and 50/50 as Gordon-Levitt films that she has really enjoyed. She also gave a shout-out to his epic cameo in the amazing Todrick Hall creation, Straight Outta Oz. She also named Kristen Bell as one of her favorites, and said that she follows Joss Whedon’s work, but mostly in the television realm. She said that although she loves good cinematography and camera work, she rarely takes time to note the directors and cinematographers of films that she really enjoys, and said that that may be something she works on in the future. Overall, however, Blair said that she mostly just takes suggestions from friends when choosing what to watch, although sometimes it takes her longer than she’d like to actually get around to doing the watching.

When I asked Blair whether there were any other movies that she considered choosing, she gave me a few titles. First, she said It’s A Wonderful Life, mostly for the reasons mentioned earlier. She said that she doesn’t watch many of the more modern Christmas movies and all of her Christmas nostalgia is wrapped up in this film. It makes her cry every time, and even listened to (and cried during) a radio play of it produced last year. She even named one of her cats after a character from the film.

Next, Blair named the remake of Ocean’s Eleven. She said that this is the newest movie that she considers herself to be obsessed with. She said that she loves all of the little details in the film that work together to just take it to the next level. When she went to Las Vegas, she visited as many of the spots from the film as she could.

Blair also named The Princess Bride (just because it’s a film that has been with her for a long time and that she has always loved) and The Goonies, which she said is her favorite coming-of-age film, and a number of Disney films, including The Lion King, Mulan, and Toy Story.

When it came down to choosing one movie for this project, however, there was really no question about what Blair would pick. I can remember her agonizing over whether To Kill a Mockingbird was too obvious a choice for her, but in the end, she went with her gut – and rightly so. She told me that she thinks it’s a slightly cliché choice for a Southern liberal, but it’s what she had to go with. The story, book and film just really resonate deeply for her. She loves the message and themes of the story. “It’s all about compromise, and being sure to look at the world” with a child’s eyes and doing what’s right, even if that’s hard, because how else would you be able to respect yourself? Beyond that, it is a film that she grew up on. Her family raised her with it from a very early age, and she told me she can’t even count how many times she’s seen it. When she was young, they had a VHS of it recorded from a television airing, and they watched it so much that it wore out around the middle. Her mom read the book to her as a child for a bedtime story (albeit in a highly censored form, she’d later discover). She also said that the flute music is instantly recognizable for her and immediately takes her back to the film.

Ultimately, the movie is more than just a movie for Blair. She reads the book nearly every year, sometimes more. Every time she reads it, she takes something new from it, whether it be feminism, religion or how the world changes around us over time. And all of these things are reflected in the film, which she views as one of the best novel adaptations of all time. Which is especially impressive when you realize just how high her bar is for it.

The film also reaches certain aspects of her nostalgia, and I can definitely relate to that aspect as well. There’s a certain timelessness about the innocent Southern childhood portrayed in the book and film. Blair said that “things like biscuits, fresh lemonade, climbing trees, playing out in the road and just having to be within whistling distance of the house, and having to be home when the street lights came on” are part of that childhood, and although the film may not specifically mention those things, it captures those same feelings and emotions. She also said that she related to Scout as a child. She, too, hated wearing dresses and would play in different clothes.

She told me that she has seen the live production in Monroeville, AL (I have, too!), which is performed at the courthouse that Harper Lee based much of the action in the book around. Her family has also named two of their dogs after characters from the book/movie: Boo and Scout. She also has dreams of naming a wise looking tabby cat Atticus someday.

The story has simply had such a profound impact on Blair’s life. She loves that it has so many subgenres in one story. There’s action, adventure, mystery, courtroom drama, and moral lessons, to name a few, all backed by a gorgeous score. She said that she hopes that the story has had an effect on the world in at least a fraction of the way that it has had on her.

In closing, Blair mentioned that she has heard rumblings that there is interest in remaking the film. She said that she is open to this possibility, especially since having a more modern – and colorized – film may reach a wider audience, but she has reservations, because the original is so close to her heart. She said she can’t imagine anyone but Gregory Peck playing Atticus Finch. She hopes that if it was remade, it would cause more people to read the novel, watch the original and share the story in general. In the end, though, she doesn’t really think about what the story could mean for others too much. It’s enough just knowing how much it means to her.

Like Brian, Blair left me with a lot to read, write and think over as I worked on the blog for this week. I really appreciate everyone who has participated (and those who will participate) in this blog, but there are definitely a few who have really thrown themselves into it and I love that!

I have very similar emotions to Blair when it comes to To Kill A Mockingbird. It is my dad’s favorite book of all time, and I definitely feel a nostalgia for it and the movie. I actually didn’t read the book or even watch the movie until around 9th grade, but when I did, I felt like the story had been a part of me my whole life. It just connects with a certain part of you, especially if you grew up as, as Blair said, a Southern liberal. I can remember being young and staying at my family’s cabin in Georgia and finding a stray dog. We played with it all day, and – like Blair’s family – my dad named it Scout. We didn’t end up keeping Scout, but it’s definitely something that has stuck in my mind.

To be honest, there isn’t much that I can say that Blair didn’t, but I’ll do my best. One of the thing that really sticks out to me when I watch the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird is the performances. Gregory Peck did such an incredible job, he truly is Atticus Finch. The kids all did a great job, as well, and felt like real children in the South. The courtroom scene is so well done and acted that it’s hard to believe that it’s actually about a quarter of the film. It doesn’t feel that way when you watch it, but it’s so intense that it just flies by. It also manages to make you feel as though you are watching it through the eyes of the children, since they are the characters that take you into the courtroom, and that just adds a whole other layer to it.

I also definitely agree with Blair on the score. The music is beautifully done. It creates its own world, while reminding you of your own. From the very first shots of Scout coloring over the score, you are instantly transported into her world, and you already know so much about it. It’s just so well crafted.

I am going to end this here, since this blog is already over twice the length of my usual posts, but it’s just because Blair gave me so much to work with! Just know that this story has also had an incredible impact on my life and the book is probably one of my favorite novels, perhaps even my absolute favorite if I had to choose. With my family, you pretty much had to love it and that still didn’t ruin it for me, so that should really tell you something.

Thanks again for joining me! Let me know what you think? What do you think about To Kill a Mockingbird? How about the movie vs. the book? See you next week!

Next time: The Birdcage